Man says he’s ‘never been so degraded and humiliated’ over Waitrose accusations

A Waitrose shopper says being ‘accused of stealing coffee’ was the most ‘degrading and humiliating scenario’ he has ever experienced in his life.

For Martin Fielder, it was routine at this point: a grocery shop in his local Waitrose in Romsey, Hampshire, and grabbing a free coffee on January 29.

As a MyWaitrose member, the semi-retired expatriate is entitled to a free hot drink with any purchase at the supermarket.

He selected a hot drink when he paid at a normal till before walking to a nearby vending machine, but as it was out of milk, he tried a different one instead.

But as he was exiting the Waitrose, the supermarket’s duty manager approached him to check whether Martin bought something to get the free drink.

Martin, well and truly ‘shocked’ by this, showed his receipt to the duty manager who ignored his suggestion to check the CCTV before leaving the store.

Martin said: ‘I walked around town for some time, considering what I had just experienced. On reflection, I accept I was actually in shock during this time.

‘During this walk, someone who had recognised me who had been at the self-service checkout area approached me in the street and asked me, “what was that about in Waitrose, were they accusing you of stealing?”.

‘Of course, I had to embarrassingly admit that was the case and had to defend myself that the accusation had been wrong.

‘The sense of humiliation which accompanied this was overwhelming.

‘To have it confirmed in the street that indeed this slanderous defamation had been witnessed by members of the public has made this without exception the most degrading and humiliating scenario I have ever experienced.’

Martin stormed back into the Waitrose to confront the duty manager, demanding to speak to the manager who was off that day.

He phoned back the following day and spent three weeks exchanging emails with Waitrose over his free hot drink.

Waitrose apologised to Martin and offered him a £20 voucher when Martin threatened to take the incident all the way up to the grocer’s managing director.

‘I never mentioned financial recompense, it doesn’t interest me,’ Martin said, ‘I only sought vindication.’

‘This truly saddens me, I worked for them in the 80s and I expect Waitrose to be in the top level of customer service. I did not expect to be brushed off as an annoyance,’ he added.

‘To be offered a £20 voucher in regard to my integrity was so insulting.’

A Waitrose spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘We’re very sorry to hear of Mr Fielder’s experience.

‘This was a genuine misunderstanding and we’ve apologised to Mr Fielder directly, as well as providing him with a gesture of goodwill.’

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